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THE 

CHAPTER ON RECONSTRUCTION 

FROM THE 

"LIFE OF THADDEUS STEVENS" 



NOW IN I'J{KI'ARATI()X 



By Joseph Bare Morrison. 






p. 

7 J«'05 



THE ""''^^-^^^V, 

CHAPTER ON RECONSTRUCTION ^ 

FIIOM THE 

"LIFE OF THADDEUS STEVENS" 

NOW IN PREPARATIOX 

By Joseph Barr Morrison. 



MARYVILLE, MO.. March, 1903. 

So mucli has been written upon the Southern side of Reconstruction, 
and so little upon the Xorihern side, that the people are misled in tiie for- 
mation of their opinions, — whether intended or not, on tlie part of the 
writers, — as to tlie wisdom, or practicability of the "Reconstruction Meas- 
ures." Many of tho.se wlio write and speak upon tlie subject, overlook 
much that i.s essential, and inject much into it that is foreij^n to a fair and 
impartial investigation of it. It is because of this, that 1 am constrained 
to make this chapter so leuj^thy. Persons who have come upon the stage 
of life since these me;isures were put into operation, will be required to ex- 
ercise iud<j:mt.ut, and to Institute careful inquiry, as to the status of affairs 
at the time of the origin.ation of the measures. There were nmny circum- 
stances in existence at that time, v.-hicli exercised much lulluence, that are 
forgotten by many who were then in the prime of life, and which are en- 
tirely overlooked by many who vrere not living at that critical period; and 
yet many of such assume to instruct the people, they think, la all the many 
intricacies and phases of the question. 

Nothing can be more certain, than the fact that some such measures as 
those of reconstruction were nece.-sary for the restoration of peace and har- 
mony in the South, as well as, throughout the entire country; and it was 
the sincere desire of Congress to devi.-;e such measures as would bringabout 
such a happy couditit)n; and not to taunt and torture the South, us has 
been unwisely charged by some incousiderjite persons. 

It is ni3^ purpose to present the subject in a fair and straight-forward 
manner, so far as I am able to do so, that those persons desiring to learn 
something of the matter, without having to read volume upon volume, 
may at least learn the important points. I believe that a fair and truth- 
ful presentation of the subject, kept witliin reasonable limits, will do much 
good, by enlightening the people at large, and by removing many errors 
which are honestl3' believed by man^'. 

During the last few years, a great deal has been said and written 
upon this subject, much of which seems to be somewhat unfair. In consid- 
ering thisgreatquestion, we sluuild all, Northerners and Southerners alike, 
study it in a calm, deliberate and impartial manner. There is a vast deal 
to be considered, in investigating it comprehensive^'. Personal feeling, or 
personal likes and dislikes should not enter into the investigation at all; 
l»ut without effort to prevent it, on the part of the investigators, such 
things are likely to creep in. Let all, therefore, watch. 
Congress and its leaders hare been charged with having been controlled 



1)y liatred, reveng'p, spite, persocution. and even savaffory. It ehoiild be 
borne in mind that one of the most important purpf^.HeB of the reconstruc- 
tion measures was, makin.^- the country s:aie as:ainst a. repetition of war, 
like tha,t lately' closed: and the leadei's at the time, in Cong-ress, would cer- 
tainly have been dereliit in duty, had they neglected to establish safe- 
.guards ag-ainst such a repetition. How to n-iake permanent, the benelicial 
results of the war, was a very important issue Avilh them. 

Several plans of reconstruction Avei-e proposed by as many different 
authors. They were ot varying- deari'ees of severity or kindnes-^. Some had 
a ^ood deal of vinej;'ar and ,a;all in them; others were about all milk and 
honey; and some had a portion of the parable of the prodigal son incor- 
porated into their structure, with the essential ingredient of the parable 
left out. All these plans w^ere finalLv abandoned except that of Mr. Ste- 
vens, whi:h, with some holes i)unched into it which made it somewhat 
leaky, was finally adopted. This plan was constructed piece-meal. It 
was never completed perfectly. It was left weak in places, and these de- 
fective i)laces finally caused trouble. The measures of reeonstructi(ui as 
eventually established were not the work of any one man, though, iu the 
main, they were the work of Thaddeus Stevens. Mr. Stevens did not live 
to see them completed to his entire liking. He well knew that the work 
w'as not perfect, but he found it difficult to induce many in Congress to 
see tilings as he saw them, or to fore-see results as he fore-saw them. Hi.s 
desires in this mat ter were of the kindliest sort, and not at all mixed with 
revenge. The SouHi AKtt never has had a better or truer friend. He look- 
ed forward to the gicat future, distant as well as near. In considering and 
preparing this great work. He had in view the welfare of all races, and 
for all time. The vast majority of the human race can only see the small 
present ; but not po with him; he looked down through the vista of the 
long future, and so far as It is possible for human vision to reach, he recog- 
nized the purposes of the All-Wise God; rjid hence his great earnestness in 
trying to complete a broad, liberal mode of reconstruction. How far he 
succeeded, future impartial histoiiiins will have to determine; for there 
really seem to be very few men. North or South, who a^re willing to lay 
aside bias and partiality when consideriug this question. It will require a 
Bancroft or a Macaulaj' to give posterity a. fair, unbiased and full history 
of the period, and we hopp, for the good of all concerned, that such an one 
may appear in the not distant future. 

Mr. Stevens desired not to be hasty, but to take abundant time iu 
which to prepare the people, white as well as black, for the new order of 
things. His first design was to hold the states lately in rebellion, a.'^ 
conquered territory, governed by provisional or military governors, ap- 
pointed for the separate states, by the President, and supported by what- 
ever military force the exigencies of the case might re(][uire, until education, 
and all other civilizing and Christianizing agencies could be used, necessary 
for the preparation of all classes for self government. o^ com se there 
were many whites and souie blacks, v.'ho were already veil acquainted 
v/ith the manner of conducting political and municipal matters, but there 
Avas a very large class of both whites and blacks who were far from being 
thus qualified, and who absolutely needed educating up to that degree of 
perfection, or of readiness. We nu'y in all candor, ask, where was the need 
of being in a hurry in this matter? With a fair and just President, hav- 
ing a fair and just class of Army officers and also of soldiers under him 
and who had a large number of exi)erienced Governors and other execu 
tlve officers — and just and honest, as well — then^ surely could have been 
no danger of doing either the whites or the blacks any injustice, by i-e- 
quiring th'MU to wait for proper training and disciplining. This doubtless, 
would have been done could Mr. Stevens have had his own way. But there 
were so many milk-and-water philanthropists in the North, and so 
many eager politician < in the South, — for they were not nearly all killed ofi 
bj' the war — ltd by a i'resident whose spinal marrow melted very sudden- 



ly, like a tallow can(;le in a hot Aug-iist ni^lit, and ^vho Avas extremely 
anxiou.s, apjjarentiy at least, to have iho .South i-e.stoi\'(l ininiediatelj', and 
the governments of the ^^eparate States put into the hands of the veiy meu 
"vvho had recently nuide every possible eii'urt to overthrow ihe United 
States Government, and to establish one of their own clioosing-, that "a 
commotion and a cry" was raised in bolli the North and the South for 
immediate restoration t(i tlie Union, — even before Cong-ress could legally 
re-assemble, — a cry so general and so vociferous that it was difficult for 
even the most sturdy and unyielding leailers of meu to withstiiud. During 
the eig'it montlis of the int©'im l)ft\veen the two Congresses, so muc!i mis- 
chief had been done by the Executive, by following the wrong line, — hav- 
ing made the mistake of regcirding tliis work as belonging to the Execu- 
tive instead of to Congress, — that Ijy the time Congress met in December, 
1865, its work was vastly greater, and more difficult, than it woiiid have 
been at the time of the surrender at Appomattox, l)ecau.-;e tlie South was 
led to believe tluit all was settled: and many in the North believed the 
same thing; and Congress iiad to undo all this, before it could begin ac- 
tive work, and render any assistance. 

Had Mr. Lincoln coniinued to live, he in all probability would have 
called Congress together in extra .session for the purpose of attending to 
its own work; but Air. .Johnson did not consider it necessary at all. Mi\ 
Lincoln would soon have seen his error; but Mr. Johnson could not, cr 
Avould not, see any erroi-. It is tiiought by many. North and South, thcit 
he was n-yiug to court favor with the Soutli, .ooking towai'd a second 
teriu. He took upon himself a tremendous i-esponsibility and an uujustih- 
able one. It is a gi'eat pity that he took a course that brought such dls- 
batisfaclion to the people both North and South. He elated tlie whites of 
the South with false hopes, and disturbed those of the North, as well. 
The love of authority' is, and has always been, a ruling passion with the 
whites of the soutli, and they soon became restless and dissatisfied after 
having authority taken from them at Appomattox; and the defection of 
Mr. Johnson soon set them to wishing for pow'er find intluenee in the Un- 
ion. They soon began to yearn for it, and thi yearning rapidly increased , 
It was a sad dissapijiutuient to them when Congress passed Mr. Stevens' 
famous reconstruction resolution, in December, 1865, immediately after 
Congress opened. The adoption oi this resolution caused Johnson's "res- 
toration," or "My Policy," to fall to the ground lifeless. 

At tiie close of the war the .Southerners seemed to accept the situation 
in good faith, and it is tlie testimony of recent writers of b(jth South and 
North that this is an undeniable fact. Many admiited to the writer of this 
article, soon after the surrender of Lee, tliat they believed that it was bet- 
ter for both sections of the country tliat matters had terminated as they 
(lid. Not until President Johnson begjin to waver did they intimate that 
they were not entirely satislied with the lesults. Put from the moment 
that he melted, they began to grow bold and demanding. The^' then be- 
gan to talk about theirCoxsTixuTiONAL rights. By the following Febru- 
ary, (1866), they Avere about as bold and as exacting- as they were during 
and prior to the war. Their lamb-like sul)mission Avas spoiled by Mr. 
Johnson's course, and they never regained it. Tiiey were not willing- af- 
ter that to give up the case and become sulimissive again. Nor did they 
ever again do so willingly. "A man convinced against his will, is of the 
.same opinion still." This, it is feared, is the state of opinion in the South 
to-day. Those persons who have written recently upon the subject, make 
it plain that the wliites of the Scjutli think tliey were riglit during- the war, 
and that they have been treated badly sine*' the war; that the acts of re- 
construction were acts of great injustice They ouglit not to forget, but 
they do, the conditions at the time; i. e. the situ;ition of affairs at the time 
of tlie close of the war. They were (p.-iite different from the conditions of 
the present time. We should remenib'er tiiat reconstruction was not the 
work of a day; nor for a day, but tliat it was intended for all time, and 
that its results and inilueuces will reach far into Eternity. It was there- 



— 4— 

suit of mature deliberation anrl ardent work, on the part of a few strong 
and sincere men, who had nothing but good in their purposes. It should 
also be remembered that v/hen the reconstruction measures were institut- 
ed, a gigantic war had l)ut recently closed; a war memorable for itsdimen- 
sions, its purposes, its causes and results: cind for tlie eai-nest determina- 
tion with wliich it was waged by the agi^-ressors. The conditions follow- 
ing such a war were anomalous, grievious and puzzling, or mystifying. 

The outbreak of th.e .South was at first regarded si.'nply as a rebellion, 
and was so treated then on the part of our government; but its dimen- 
sions soon grew into such enormous proportions, that it became more 
than a simple rebellion, and, Avhile it was throughout, a rebellion, it was 
more, because of assumiui;; such colossal proportions; and, having adopt- 
ed all the measures of warfare used in a war between nations, it was re- 
garded and treated as a war between nations, l)y our owngoveruraeutand 
by foreig'.i powers. It was a rebellion, a war of belligerants, a war as of 
nations, and a huge one, too. This war was very strenuously waged for 
four long years of actual and terrific warfare, by a brave and determined 
people, with the obstinate intent of severing themselves permanently from 
the Union and establishing a government of their own, in which Negro 
slavery should be an intefcral part, — in fact the essicntiai^ part. The sen- 
timent antagonistic to slavery had grov.'u to such prodigious dimensions 
in the North, and the determination of the people of the Union was so 
strong against the propagation or extension (jf the institution, that the 
LEADERS in the yo-irh deliberately concluded that their only course in or- 
der to perpetuate t'l.lr cherishe i institution, was to sever their connection 
with the Union and establish a government, or a nation of their own. 
Their purpose was only aband^Jiied when they were over-powered at Ap- 
pomattox. They gave it up simply because tliey were obliged to do so, 
and not, even In the least degree, because they had any desire to do so 
This is the fixed opinion of the North, and the oft repeated f)piuion of the 
South. There can be no doubt about this. The Southern people to-day 
teach their children that they were not conquered, but that they were only 
overpowered. It is to be greatly regretted that they declare, in speeches 
and in conversation — and rather boldly, too — sentiments at variance with 
the spirit of their re-entering the Union. Some of the leaders of the North, 
who were very anxious to have matters so a,d justed that similar trouble 
could never again occur, were greatly censured by many people 
for doubting the sincerity of the Southern leaders, and for being so par- 
ticular, as they regarded it, about having every i-ail or picket of the fence 
put into exact— 3'es, scrupulously exact— p-jsitiou. In other words, they 
regarded these leaders as being captions, over-nice, pettish, and unnecfs- 
sarily suspicious. In looking over the field now, may we not ask insin- 
cerity, were they so? Is their Jiot a good deal of truth in what Senator 
Tillman and others ha,ve sai<l in their heated speeches in the Senate and 
elsewhere? Why do Southern orators keep saying things if they do not 
mean them? Why iterate and re-iterate through the years, if the things 
are not true. Let us try to be fair in our discussions and dissertation. 

Inasmuch as the name of Thaddeus Stevens is often used in the dis- 
cussion of the Problem of Reconstruction, I shall, in this article, use it 
frequently, as it seems to l)e about Impossible to discuss tlie question to 
much extent without usingit. Whether we be biased in favor of, or against 
the man, if indeed we be biased at all, we must, yes, absolutely must make 
our investigations fairly and honestly, or posterity will jnstb' cast them 
aside as unreliable, and as unworthy of serious consideration. Surely, no 
Northern man, who is loyal to the principles for which the government 
contended during tlie Civil V\'ar, and who will read Mr. Stevens' record 
concerning this subject, can fail to revere the man and to enjoy reading his 
speeches, and the faithful accounts given b.y others, of his' sayings and 
doings. As for the Southern people, we do not expect to find them rever- 
ing, or even admiring '.Am; at least for several generations to come; and yet 



lie was a friend of tho South as well as of the North, of tlie endurius kiud. 
"A friend in need is a friend indeed," and the true interests of tiie South 
needed just sueli a friend at the close of t!ie war. Tiie entire country need- 
ed just such a friend at that time. Where is the use in adjusting a disar- 
raiigment of any sort, unless it be adjusted in a permanent and iDeuencial 
manner? Thaddeus Stevens cared not for popular iipplause. All that he 
cared for was to do justly b^^ his fellow-men, be they white or black, 
Caucasian, Malay, Mongolian or African. He was anxious to uplift the 
downtrodden and to set their footsteps toward the light of civilization 
and usefulness. Plis labora in this regtjrd were all wholly of an uuselhsh 
character, and, financially at least, he was unrewarded. 

The South may well blame herself and no one else, for the severe 
measures of reconstruction, as they choose to call them; for, but for their 
own stubbornness and contempt in rejecting them, in their milder forms in 
lS6o, and their impositions upon, and cruel treatment of the colored race, 
in their legislative measures. Congress would hardly have turned the vise 
so tightly. The first measure offered was comparatively nuld, and there 
was no negro suffrage incliuled in it, except conditionally; but the leniency 
of Mr. .Tohnson toward them had spoiled them, and they presumed them- 
selves to be in a condition then to be a little particular, and possibly a 
little impudent. They had "too much Johnson," and they hurt their own 
interests: i. e. their own interests as tlipj' themselves regarded them; — but 
really, their remote and permanent interests were promoted by their 
rejection of the measures, and by the afterward compulsory measures 
required by Congress, as time, we sincerely believe, will make abundantly 
manifest; but not, perhaps for some years. It is not alwaj's best to be too 
choice, or too touchy-, for the parlies with whom we are dealing, may be 
just as choice, or touchy, as ourselves. Congress was not disposed to be 
ugh', or exacting toward the South; and there is reason to believe that it 
would have been too lenient for th» good of tho whole country, if the action 
of the States had not opened its eyes and caused it to reflect. Cong-ress- 
men said to each other and to themselves: '-Here! we had better go a 
little more carefully and watch where we step. The South is becomiug 
quite demanding, and quite choice of remedies." 

When the war came to an end, the subject of reconstruction was not 
new to Mr. Stevens, for he had considered it for a number of years, and 
was well acquainted with its ins and outs, its pros and cons, and all its 
possibilities and probabilities. He had his mind fully made up, when the 
time came to act, as to what could be and what could not be, and as to 
what should be and what should not be done. 

At the beginning of the war, Mr. Stevens opposed and refused to vote 
for the Crittenden resolutious; stating that they conveyed a false impres- 
sion to the p^^ople, as to the origin, purpose and intent of the war, and he 
declared that the States in rebellion had forfeited their rights oy their own 
action, and therefore had no rights i-emaining under the Constitution; and 
that when the war should be brought to an end they would stand in rela- 
tion to the United States, as conquered Trovinces. The Crittenden resolu- 
tious soon passed out of sight, like a flock of birds of passage. They were 
wrong in theory and hence could uot maintain their ground. The States 
In rebellion against the Constitution could not, of course, plead the pro- 
tection of the Constitution, though some visionaries of the North claimed 
that they could do so. 

Mr. Steveus persistently and consistently maintained that it was the 
right and duty of Congress to determine what should be done with the 
Kebel States, and also the manner of doing it. Mr. Lincoln made the same 
mistake that Andrew Johnson made afterwards, of contending that it 
belonged to the Executive so to determine. This bro;id (juestlon of recon- 
strucfitm involved the lavv' <»f nations, the laws of war, the Status of 
Territoiies under the Constitutou, the rights of the Executive and of 
Congress, and the claims of the couquered under the laws of humanity and 



— G— 

cf God. It is far reaching;, botli as to space and time. Its work will not 
be completed until all the existing and prospective difterences, because of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude or mastery, shall luive been 
adjusted permanently, lleconstruction contemplated tlie benelits and the 
uplifting influences of education, civilization, industry' and <'liristianity 
upon all the peou'e concerned whetlier Wliite, Black, Indian, Mongolian or 
Caucasian. "And He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to 
dwell on all the face of the eartli, and hath determined t!ie times before ap- 
pointed and the bounds of ttieir habitation " Mr. Stevens fully believ- 
ed this, and acted accordingly. 

Many persons during the last few years, in considering the subject of 
reconstruction, speak of it from the present day standpoint. They fvirget 
the circunstances of the time when it was made necessarj'. They over- 
lo(d<. the then existing great and numerous obstacles that were in the way 
of the easy adjustment of matters. It seems that many look upon it in the 
same fight in which they regard the war of races. They make them prac- 
tically one and the same thing. They seem to entirely overlook the princi- 
pal tVature of reconstruction, namely, the restoring of the Seceded States 
to their i)laces in the Union, in a i.I':(;ai^ asd substantial manner: and in a 
manner that will bring the fruits of peace and prosperity. At the close of 
the war, these States were out of the Union, both de jtiUE and de f.K!to, 
doubtless, and they had to be re-admitted by the Sovereign Power of the 
Nation — Congress — in accordance with the law of nations. 

One would think now, in reading over the proceedings of Congress of 
that date, that but few knew anything about the law of nations. The 
conflicting views of the Congressmen of the time, seem very singular, or 
strange to us, thirty-five 3'ears later. Even Mr. Lincoln admitted to Mr. 
Stevens, that he did not know much about the law of nations, as he was 
not required to u.^e it much in his pi'acticc in Illinf)is. 

As a matter of course, reconstruction was and is responsible, in a 
measure, for the progress and the harmonizing of the races; but it could 
not be expected to accomplish its work in one j'ear, or one decade, one 
score of years, or even in one century. It laid the foundation forprogress, 
prosperity, education, civilization, Christiauization and peace, but it will 
be a long time yet, before its work shall l)e completed. Great and bene- 
ficial changes in any community, and especially in a community of radical- 
ly diiffeTent races, lequire for their working-out, quite a iong time. It 
doubtless is true, that the work of reconstruction has been done as expedi- 
tiously and as perfectly, as could have been hoped for under most other 
plans or schemes. That misunderstandings and differences should ha,ve 
arisen, and in some instances, outbreaks, is not strange, when we consider 
the condition of the South after such a devastating v.-ar, and after the set- 
ting free of four millions of slaves, who were still to remain in the country, 
and especially as those In the mastery knew nothing about v/ork. Recon- 
struction has already done a great work, is still doing, and Avill in the 
future continue to do a great work. The establishing of such valuable 
schools as that at Hampton, and that at Tuskegee. which doubtless will 
do great work, and rapidly, is a part of the work of reconstruction. Ke- 
coDstuction contemplated just such work and such results. It, however, 
never was expected to bring altout social equalit.y. That, if not an im- 
possibility, is, at least, an enigma for the long future to dispose of. There 
docs not exist social equality among the white races of the world, and 
such a condition never lias existed. Whether or not such a condition ever 
will exist, is for the future to determine. Many say that it never can exist, 
but Jet us bear in mind, that never is a long time. Some wonderful (hanges 
have occured in the world since Adam's day. Others may occtir before the 
last day. 

If the amendments to tlie Constitution which Mr. Stevens proposed, 
liad been adopted as he offered them, there could have been no trouble 
about suffrage and representation; for he proposed that representalioa 



should depend ui)oii the franchise as based upon correct United States 
census; and if certain classes should be perniitted to exercise tlie rij^iit of 
franchise, then the Southern States should be entitled to a certain number 
of Representatives in Conj^'ress; but if not so perniitted, then the number 
should be reduced accordin<;!.y. Tlie amendments would have been self- 
actini?, but some superior (or inferior) wisdom trimmed the tree so un- 
wisely as to lop off one of tlie most imi)^'rt;int branches, and this very 
important and very material matter was left to be put into operation l>y 
special enactments, and the special enactments have failed to tai^e forn'i. 
This provision is persistently violated in late years. The blaclis are not 
permitted to vote, and yet they are all counted just as the whites ai-e 
counted. It is lilic putting- a champion racer upon the track with h(jbb!es 
on, for the purpose of brealdng the record. Mr. Stevens claimed, — audit 
seems that it could not have been otherwise — that if the coloi-ed men 
should be allowed to vote, then the number of representatives couhl be di- 
vided, so that a number of tliem \\ ould be loyal I'nion men, sullicient to 
prevent any danj>er to republican principles and republican institutions; 
and that if they should be denied the exercise of the franchise, then the 
number of representatives would be reduced so as to be harmless for evil. 

The action of the State legislaturt s at the time of the rejection of the 
14th Amendment, in relation to the uefi,Toes, alarmed the people of the 
North and made them apprehensive for the freedom of tlie colored race, and 
led eventually to tlie adoption of Negro Suftrage as a safe guard to their 
liberty. Universal sulfrage was not required as a part of the plan of re- 
construction, until long after the first proposition was contemptuously 
1 ejected by the separate seceded States. Mr. Stevens was exceedingly 
anxicras to have some perfectly reliable safe-guard; because lie knew tluit 
the Southerners were smart enough to devisesumeplan, and that they were 
selfish enough to put it into operation, — if not positively prevented by 
Rome alisolutely effective enactment, — that would subvert the intent of the 
law and of the law-making power. He was not to be hood-winked or 
blindfolded. He knesv the South thoroughly. He, however, had no desire 
to intiict any punishment, or even restraint upon tliem, that was not re- 
quired to insure the safety, prosperity and peace of the whole country. He 
was not influenced in the least, by spite, envy or revenge; no notin the 
least. He was far from being that kind of a man. His desire was to in- 
sure the safety of the country, and tlie rights of individual citizens named 
in the Declaration o* Independence. This desirt>. surely wa.s commendable 
He really was one of the South's best friends. He Avill always be remem- 
bered by a grateful people for his unselrish desires and efforts iii behalf of the 
entire country. Some of his efforts In her behalf are w^orthy a Lycurgus or 
a Solon, and some of his speeches are gems of legal elo(iuencG and of ora- 
tory. This matter of properly adjusting the affairs of the country after 
tlie termination of the war, was with him a paramount issue and he'threw 
his whole soul into it. By reading his speeches, any one may see that he 
was most deeply in earnsst. He was most thoroughly convinced that it 
was a question of the very greatest importance to the nation, whether it 
be settled carelessly, or caiefully and securely; for accordingly as it is 
settled, he maintained, will be the peace or the disquiet of tiie country in 
future years; for what a people will do once, believing themselves to be in 
the right, they will do again, if opportunity shall offer. This is common 
experience. 

It is a very easy matter for men — self-contident men especially — to 
stand off to one side and say, "Didn't I tell you so?" "Didn't 1 know that 
reconstruction would be a failure?" Ilecoustructionhasnot been afailure. 
It has accomplished all that it, in tiiis or any other shape, could have ac- 
compli- lied under the very discouraging circumstances. It is a matter ofa 
very long time and of very great effort, to bring a homogeneous condition 
out of such a heterogeneous mixture of circumstances. And but for the 
fact that reconstruction has made it possible for education, civilization 



— s— 

and Christianity to operate favorably, the South would to-day, be a very 
hot bed of strife, blood-shed and iuiquity. But for the supervision of the 
reconstruction measures, the war of races would have rendered the South 
a very bedlaiu, — a very Hell upon earth. We should he thcinkful. North 
aud South alike, for what Thaddeus Stevens' reconstruction measures 
liavt accomplished under God's direction aud guidance. We must look at 
all the conditions dispassioucitely, like brave, truthful, sincere and earnest 
men, and like philosophers as well. 

Many of the Southern people complained bitterly because of the 
presence of United States troops, during- the early years of reconstruetiou; 
aud yet, I doubt if ever one of them was heard to object to the presence of 
the troops of Jefi'erson Davis during the continuance of the 'war. "It de- 
pends a good deal on whose ox is g(>red." That many bad men and con- 
scienceless schemers located In the South as carpet-baggers, at that time, 
is entirely true; but "reconstruction" is hardly responsible for such a con- 
dition of tilings. It had to deal with just what it found. If the hind waa 
high, rolling and beautiful, and the home of song-birds and sweet flowers, 
8o"be it; but if it was swampy and filled with reptiles, so l)e it, also. Its 
design was to operate beneficially, whether sun-shiny or cloudy. It was 
designed to bring order out of cliaos, peace aud quiet out of confusion and 
turmoil, aud a happy citizenship for each individual out of uncertai'ity and 
disturbance, and to make iiappy, peaceful and prosi)erous communities out 
of conflicting aud heterogeneous conditions; and it is doing so. It has not 
been a failure, as some have carelessly asserted. It has aeconiplished great 
things already, and it is still working out great problems. It was estab- 
lished not for a day, but for all time. It must be exandned with 
the eye of reason and fairness, and not with the eye of prejudice and envy. 
It musit be judged in fairness, and by sound judgement and philosophy. In 
short, it must be weighed in a true balance by men of honesty and of just 
judgment. If it had not been crippled at the very start by some of itsluko- 
wai'm friends or half-way enemies, there would in all probability have been 
no room for fault-finding people to complain of its work. But its hands 
were tied, in a measure, and it was thus hindered, to quite a considerable 
degi-ee. Its hands were tied by leaving to legislation what ought to have 
been embodied in the Constitutional Amendments. 

If the legislatures of the Seceded States had acted with more wisdom 
and less feeling of independence nnd defiance late in 1865 and e;irly in ISiJti, 
in legislating concerning the negroes, they might have fared better in the 
matter of reconstruction; that is to say, they might have been taken back 
into the Union upon much more lenient terms. But their haste and pride 
waked up the fear and vigilance of the North and of Congress. And if they 
had not rejected the early mea,sares of reconstruction in 1.S66-87 they would 
likely, more nearly h.ave carried their point. But they tread upon their 
own toes, and upon those of Congress and the Norih, and in doing so 
caused Congress to be cautions and deliberate. 

It does seem that President Hayes asisumed a great responsibility 
when he withdrew the troops from the South; for by doing so he opened 
the flood-gates to the Ku Klux Klaus, blood hounds, rapine, murder aud 
general lawlessnesss, under the notion that he was exercising mercy and 
justice toward an abused white race; and the naturcil result of the mistak- 
en policy was a Solid South, po!iticaIl3% which continued Solid for many 
years in opposition to everytliing excei)t the will of those, who lately tried 
desperately by every means t)f vv^arfare, to destroy the United States 
Government. He did tiiis, too, b^^ indirectly insulting those faithful ones 
who labored long and faithfully to establish the Union upon a firm and 
fair foundation, and to protect the poor and helpless as well as those in 
good circuiustances, by saying, in act or deed ; "You men who established 
reconstruction, were all wrong, an.l I am right, and. therefore, I am going 
to tear down what you have, by hard and patriotic labor, built up, and 
take off all restraints from the proud Southern white people." What 



— 9— 

would have been thou;>!il: of an upsturt who might havo ovorthrown, or 
who might have tired to ovLTthrow, the hiws of Moses, which were estab- 
li.slied by tlio wisdom of the givate.st hiwgiver of oartii? Wliat would be 
thought of the Warden of the t'euitentiary, who would say to the prison- 
er::*, or tliose who have offeuded against the laws: "1 am going toexercise 
mercy and justice toward you a!)used men, wlio are being imposed upon 
by being kept in here, by opening tlu.' prison doors and saying to you, go 
and be free?" 

If this class ofpersons had been present when the Savior drove tlie 
money changers, and dealers in merchandise, or traders, out of tlm Temple, 
thej' would doul)tless have pleaded with the Savior to be merciful ui)on the 
poor fellows, and likely would have i-eproved Him for his severit3' or cruel- 
ty. This class of men are hardly suitaide for wise rulers, or for judges of 
Courts of law and justice. That class of persons who are in fcivor of hang- 
ing a murderer to the nearest tree on the d;iy of the commission of the 
crime, and then turn around and plead for the acquittal of the same 
crimmal on the day of trial, are not likely to help the world nmch; but they 
can engender a great dial of trouble and mischief. That class of people 
has had much to do with the condition of affairs in the iSouth since the 
war. They are disturbers of the peace, directly or indirectly, wherever 
they are. 

Undoubtedly there were very many things done in the South by 
ind viduals, — irresponsible individuals, — for which the South, as a people, 
should not be held responsible. So, too, there were very many things done 
in a sinister manner, by "scalawags, carpet-baggers, and negroes" in- 
fluenced by such, for which the North, or tlie Government, should not be 
censured; because such scalawags and carpet-baggers went South of their 
own accord in most, if not all instances, aud they were not authorized by 
the Government, or by the Northern people, as a people, to do that which 
they meanly aud unwarrantedly did. The intention, doubtless, of the 
Southern people as a people, was to do right as nearly as they could under 
the anomalous condition of things. So also, the Northern people and the 
I'. S. Government have good intentions. It is not to be expected in such a 
singularly unusual conditi(jn of affairs, and of such huge proportions too, 
find extending over such a vast territory, that many wrongs should not 
have been perpetrated on both sides. Broad minded people. North and 
South, who Clin grasp great questions and great conditions, will have no 
ditiiculty in Sfcing the force and truthfulness of these sentiments; and they 
ought to be willing to be governed in their attitui'c toward the great 
matter of reconstruction, by such broad considerations. 

Thaddeus Stevens had more to do with devising the work of recon- 
struction, than any other man. He it was, who guarded its planning with 
the eye of a sage, and prevented a rapid, disjointed, illegal and unsafe 
"restoration" of the Seceded States. A careful and impartial perusal of 
the histor.v of reconstruction will doubtless convince any unbiased mind, 
that, but for Mr. Stevens, the States lately in rebellion would have been 
restored to their former relations to the Government and Union, and their 
Senators and Kepreseutatives admitted to Congress, to help to make laws, 
before there were any adequate safe-guards established to prevent a repeti- 
tion of the same kind of war as that just closed. It was he who cried 
halt, and who insisted upon having the problem settled in accordance with 
the law of nation.s; and upon having constitutional amendments that 
would establish the Government upon the broad principles of the 
Declaration of Independence, which had never been completely done up to 
that time. He was the lawyer and statesman of the period pau kxci:l- 
l>EN('i:. It seems strange that so many astute lawyers in Congress should 
have had such confused ideas about the status of the Southern States at 
the close of the war. In looking over the history of the matter now, in 
the Congressional Globe and the newspapers of the period, it seems as 
thoogli Mr. Stevens was the only one who had consistent views through- 



-10- 

out; that lie wns the only one who could answer intelligently all questions 
askeij, and without any confusion or conflict of opinions, or ideas, and 
without any inconsistencies. He laid down the law apij'iicable to the 
condition of affairs at the time, so plainly and forcibly, that it seems now, 
that it sliould not be necessary for a man to be a lawyer, in order to un- 
derstand the situation and the measures of legislation. lie was extreme- 
ly anxious that the entire question should be settled in a legal, workman- 
like and permanent manner, for he regarded it as a work for all time. 

The opinion is quite prevalent that Pi-ovidence raised up Abrahani 
Lincoln for the particular and special work that he performed during- the 
last few years of his life; and we are free to s;iy that we share in the belief, 
and rejoice that such a belief exists so generally. The same opinion has 
been put forth in i-egard to General U. S. Grant, and we also share in this 
belief. So also with George Washington and otliers. It seems jnst a.s 
evident that Thaddeus Stevens was also so raised up for his particular 
work. His. very certainly, wns a Herculean task in the legislative field. 
He did a vast amount of difficult labor and he was very solicitous, lest the 
country should 1);^ left in an inse^ur.3 condition, an 1 lest th^ possibilities of 
future trouble might be too appai-ent, or too threatening. 

It is well known tl'.at Mr. Lincoln was disposed to be very lenient 
toward those lately in error, atul that his plan of lestoration or recon- 
struction was comparatively easy and simple. Many believe now that his 
plan was too weak to establish this country upon tlie firm basis of the 
Declaration of Independence in such a manner as to preclude danger of 
other such wars; and hence, not in accordance with tlie designs of Provi- 
dence. Very many people are convinced that i\Ir. Lincoln had reached the 
limit of his great usefulness, and therefore. Providence took him from the 
stage of action, and to his reward, lest he miuh.t stand in the way of others 
in doing this great work. He certainly would have stood in the way, if 
he had insisted upon his opinion or theory that th.e work belonged to the 
Executive instead of to Congress, and had refused to call an extra session 
of Congress for the purpose of attending to such work. It is hardly to bo 
believed that Mr. Lincoln would have been thus obstinate, or unreason- 
able. He was too wise for that. ■ 

President Johnson and his friends claimed that he. in his plan of restor- 
ation, was but carrying into effect the plan of Mr. Lincoln; and that if Mr. 
Lincoln had lived he would have be:n even more lenient than he. This is 
]jr)ssible, but it may be very much doubted. It is quite probabl'^, however, 
that he would have been too easy, or too tender hearted toward the 
South, to have secured a perfectly safe and satisfactory reconstruction for 
all posterity, or for all time. But, after all, it is most likely that .Mr. 
Lincoln would have called an Extra Session of Congress, and wonld have 
left the work to the Sovereign Power of the Nation, Avhere it certainly 
belonged. 

The manner of Mr. Lincoln's removal from the arena of life, served to 
prepare the people for a more rigid and secure mode of adjustment of the 
difficult problem. The extremely easy mode— and dangerous, as well— of 
"restoration," f)roposed by Mr. .Johnson, and, in fact, put into force by 
him, so far as it was possible for him to enforce, or establish it, also 



pO.SiLlOii iilKfU u V ^vir. onr\ c-iirs 111 icivui »Ji <i j'cinv,ti,v .Tiaiu cinu ptri nitii;trii i^ 

settletnent of the troubles, matters would have been so loosely arranged, 
that future generations would have been annoyedby threatened outbreaks 
from tluie to time. Had the .Johnson policy been adopted, nothing would 
have been permanently settled; for the very people who had been trying 
for four long years, by terrible wn,rfare to destroy the Government, and to 
establish another in its stead, vrith slavery for the corner-stone, would 
have been called upon to help to arrange matters, and it is quite reason- 
able to fear that they would have been very lenient toward themselves. 
This is but human. 



-u- 

^[r. Stevens grasped the situation with a firm p,Tip; l)e]ieyin<2:, as he did, 
that there was then an oiiportunity oflVred 1)\' an All-wise God f(jr the 
American people to establish the Ameiican Government upon tlie broad, 
j^raiid iM-iucip!es of the l)eclarati(jn of Independence; such an opportunity 
as had never l)eeu presented befijre; and that, if we then slionld ne;;iect to 
make use of such opportunity, we should deserve the condemnation and 
execration of all future generations. He was determined— was immovably 
set in his determination— to see the questions of the liour settled securely, 
safely and wisely, and in accordance with the law of nations. 

When the war closed, Conftre;«s was not in session, havinj? adjourned on 
the 4th of March. Mr. Johnson, therefore, had free course untirthefiMlow- 
iui? December. He had made considerable lieadway with his policy of 
restoration, l)y the time that Conjrress met. In fact, he had made con- 
siderable trouble. On the Gth day of September, in Lancaster, Penn., his 
liome. Mr. Stevens delivered a speech to his constituents, and indeed, to 
the whole world, iu which he called a halt, and Avarned the people a^aiust 
the dati?,-ers of "restoration." He insisted that "reconstruction" Avas the 
word. He stated that Conjcress was the only power that had any ri.^lit 
to attempt the settlement or the j;reat questions that had grown out of 
the war. The President had no power, except to govern the conquered 
territory by military authority, until Congress could act. President 
Jolrason should have called Congress together iu extra session, at a time 
of such momentous interests. 

When the 39th Congress convened iu regular session in December, Mr. 
Stevens moved the appointment of a Special Committee on reconstruction. 
Such committee was appointed and it took charge of the great problem. 
President Johnson's action in the premises was declared to be, and was 
Treated as null and void; was regarded as the work of a usurper, which it 
Burely wa,s. Mr. Johnson, like Mr. I^iucoln, made the mistake of regarding 
It as the work of the Executive, rather than that of Congress. Mr. Stevens 
was resolved to have the whole matter settled in the interest of all man- 
kind for all future ages, regardless of the wishes and feelings of the present 
conquerors and con(iuered. He was not laboring so much for conqueror 
and vanquished, as for all posterity for all time. He was looking at the 
eternal principles of right and justice,— though they should be tempered 
with mercy so far as safety v,^ould permit. He wanted no weak points 
left in the fortifications, where an enemy might, in the future, assail, or 
break through and demolish, or even c'eface the stately edifice of liberty. 

The giving way of Mr. Johnson's knees and back-bone, served to make Mr. 
Stevens and those who thought and acted with him, more vigilant, more 
jealous of and more anxious about, the security and permanency of the 
settlement of the great questions that coucerued not only ourselves, but 
all posterity; and let us hope that he accomplished the settlement pretty 
effectually and securely. Mr. Stevens regarded the work as pretty well 
done, at the time of his death, but not so complete and perfect as he de- 
sired. He, however, regai-ded it as being efficacious enough to cause him to 
rejoice iu the fruition of his hopes. He lived to see slavery abolished for- 
ever; the slaves made citizens; the country made entire^',' and for all time, 
the soil or land of the sons of liberty; the black spot removed from the es- 
cutcheon of America; and our grand Government, the best that (Jod has 
ever established on earth, firmly and securely established upon the broad 
and noble i)rinciples of the Declaration of Independence, as the founders of 
the government so devoutly desired at first, but which they could not eifec- 
tually consnmmatfc because of the great stumbling block, slavery. Tlie old 
compromi.'--e between freedom and .slavery was at last removed;" and the 
joy of Mr. Stevens was. that he lived to see it, and that he took sucii an 
active and important part iu bringing it about. He knew from early in 
life, tli.'it there was a. work for hiu) to perform, sucii as ho accomplished; 
and this belief had a strong influence over him during all his subsequent 
(lays, and a consoling influence upon hun when in the article of death. He 
seemed to feel and act throughout a long life, as though he knew that a 



-12- 

day of triumph wouUl come upon him before he should lay himself down 
"in cold obstruction and In deatli." 

One great source of confusion and indecision among the Senators and 
Representatives, yes, and among the Cabinet officers, and the great law- 
yers of the land, as well, was, that about all of them thought that it wa^ 
a most wonderfully raixed-up muddle, and a bewilderingly incongruous tan- 
gle of political and legal technicalities and absurdities, that no one of them 
could straighten out; and, that no other person could do so. Most of them 
felt that there was no Joshua to lead the hosts over the Jordan and set 
things to rights. A Joshua soon appearcl, however, and matters were 
adjusted handsomel3% though not in entire perfection, because of a number 
of great obstacles in the way. Mr. Stevens' plan for setting things to 
rights, did not favor haste, but on the contrary, it favored delay, caution 
and mature deliberation. It assumed that the work of reconstruction be- 
longed to the Sovereign Power of tlie Nation, namel.v, Congress. A state- 
ment that hardly any will controvert to-day, though at the time, a num- 
ber disputed it. If Congress had been in session at the time of Lee's sur- 
render, there probably would have been no trouble over the matter. But 
in the interim between the two Congresses, the 38tli and oDth, the execu- 
tive department of the government assumed to be the executive, 
judicial and legislative departments combined, and had the work well 
imder way, as the Executive thought, by the time the 3Dth Congress met 
in December: and the Executive claimed that all that Congress would have 
to do, would be to judge of the election, qualifications, etc., of the Sena- 
tors and Representatives, from the Seceded, but restored states. This, 
surely was usurpation. It was one nu\u power with a vengeance. Mr. 
Stevens, because of this usurpation, called Mr. Johnson "The man at the 
other end of the Avenue," — a cognomen that clung to him throughout his 
term of office. The work of Mr. Johnson along the line of "restoration," 
was promptly set aside by Congress and a quite different line of work com- 
menced under another name, that of 'reconstruction." The position taken 
by Congress, was, that the seceded states were in the position of conquer- 
ed territory and must be governed l)y military power, until the Sovereign 
Power of the nation could provide governments for, and admission of, the 
individual or separate states. AVe doubt if there are any astute lawyers 
to-day, who will honestly controvert the position which Mr. Stevens held 
concerning the principles of law l>earir.g upon the situation; or upon the 
question of reconstruction. Mr Stevens knew the law, even to the jots 
and tittles. His mature opinion was seldom, if ever, successfully contro- 
verted. He was a lawyer indeed, and not simply in name, and the country 
was fortunate indeed in having such a lawyer and statesman in Congress 
from 18(il to 1868, for the intricate points that arose during those j'ears re- 
quired such an one. 

I know of no better way to learn the object and the nature of recon- 
structi'U, than to read the speeches of Mr. Stevens', delivered in Congress 
dtiring the period 1860-G8. 

We here give extracts from his speech on the subject, delivered in Lan- 
caster, Penn.. Sept. Gth, 186."); and it will well repay anyone to peruse it 
carefull3', for Mr. Stevens was a master in the field of legal questions and 
of Statesmenship, as General Grant was, in the field of military matters, 
and as Abrsham Liricoln was, in the Executive tleld. General Grant was 
made of the material of which great generals are made; Abraham Lincoln 
of that of which great presidents are made; and Thaddeus Stevens of that 
of which great statesmen are made; and these materials seem not to exist 
In the quantity of over-production, in the world. 

FROM THE N. Y. DAILY TRIBUNE OF SEPT. 11, 1865 

The Hon. Thaddeus Stevens delivered a speech in Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 
6th, on the policy* of Reconstruction, from which we make the iollowiug 
extracts : 



THE SOUTH I'M Ri:\V OFF ITS ALIiEGIANCE. 
"Fonr years of bloody -iMd expensive war, wap:ed ajjaiust the United 
States by eleven states, umier a j^overnment cnlle»i tlie "Confederate States 
of America," to wliicli tliey acKnowledj^ed allegiance, have overthrown all 
governments within those states which conld be acknowledged as le.ijiti- 
luate by tlie Union. The armit-s of t he Confederate States liaviiia: been 
coniiuered and snbdned. and tlu-ii- territory possessed by tlieUiiiteil States, 
it iH-comes necessary to establish (iovernments therein, which shall be He- 
publican in form and principles, and form a "more jterfect Union" with the 
parent Government. It is desirable tiiat such a course should be i)ursued 
as to exclude from those governnu-nts every vesti;^-e of human boii(laii;e, 
and render the same forever impossilile ia this nation; and to take care 
that no jirinciples of self-destruction shall be incorporated therein. In ef- 
fectin.i; tins it is to be hoped that no provision of the C<jnsticutioa will be 
infriuiied, and no principle of the law of nations disregarded. Especially 
must we take care that in rebuUin.u: this unjust and treasonable war, the 
authorities of the Union shall indulge in no acts of usurpation which may 
t^Mld to Impair the stal»illty antl iiermanency cf the nation. Within these 
limitations, we lioid it to l)e the duty of the government to inflict condign 
punisliment on the Rebel belligerents, and so weaken their hands that they 
can never again endanger the Union; and so reform their municipal institu- 
tions as to make them republican in spirit as well as in name. 

WHAT SHOULD BI5 DONE WITH THE SOUTH. 

We especially insist that the property of the chief Rebels should be seiz- 
ed and aiiprourlated to the payment of the National debt, caused l)^' the 
unjust and wicked war which they instigated. 

How can such [)unishments be inliicted and such forfeitures produced 
without doing- violence to established principles? Two positions have 
been suggested : 

First — To treat those states as never having been out of the I'ninn be- 
cause the Constitution furbit's Secession, and tlierefoi-e a fact forbidden by 
law conld not exist. 

Second — To accept the position in which they placed themselves assev- 
ered from the Union; an independent Government de facto, and an alien 
enemy to be dealt with according to the laws of war. 

THE CHIME OF TREASON. 

The crime of tre.'ison can be committed only where the person is ac- 
tually or potentially present. .Jefrerson Davis sitting in IMcnmond coun- 
selling, or advising, or commanding an inroad into I'ennsylvania, hascom- 
mitted no overt act in this state, and can be tried, if anywhere, only in the 
Iiiehmond district. The doctrine of constructive pie.sence and constructive 
treason will never, I hope, pollute our Statutes or judicial decisions. Se- 
lect an IMPARTIAL jury from Yiiginia, and it is obvious that no conviction 
could ever be had. Possibly a jury might be packed to convict, l)ut that 
would not be an "imijartial" jury. It would be judicial murder, and 
would rank in infamy with the trial of Lord Kussell; except only that one 
was the murder of an innocer.t man, the other of a traitor. The same dih'i- 
culties would exist in attempting forfeitures, which can oidy follow con- 
viction in states protejted by tlie Constitution; aud then it is said only for 
the life of the inalefactcjr. Congress can pass no "bill of attainder." 

HOW TO BEGIN RECONSTRUCTION. 

What right has any one to direct a convention to be held in a Sovereign 
State of the Union, to amend its Constitution and pi-escribe the ciualific.-i- 
tions of voters? The Sovereign power o! the nation is lodged in Congress. 
Yet where is the warrant in the Constitntioa for such Sovereign power. 



—14— 

much less tlie Executive, to intermeddle witli tlae domestic institutions of a 
State, mold it.-^ laws, and re,i;'u!ate the elective franchise? It would be rank, 
dany;erous and deplorable usiirpatiou. In reconstruction, tlierefore, no re- 
form c;in be eitected in the Southern states, if thoy have never left the Un 
ion. But reformation must be eftVeted; the foundation of their institutions, 
both political, municipal and social must be broken up and kei.aid, or all 
our blood and treasui-e htsve been spent in vain. Th;!t can on.ly be done 
by tT'eatiuif and holding- them as a. cono^uered people. Then all things 
which we can desire tu'd^ , follow with h).i;ical and legitimate authority. 
As conciuered territory. Congress w nuld have full power to legislate for 
them; for the territories are not under the ronstitution except sofar as the 
expi-ess pf)wer to govern them is given to Congix-ss. They would be held 
in a territorial condition until they are fit to invm State Constitutioiis, re- 
publican in fact, not in form only, and ask admission into the Union as 
new states. If Congress approve of their constitutions, and think they 
have done works meet for reps ntance, tiiej' would be admitted as new 
states. If their constitutions are not a]iproved of, they would be sentback, 
until they have become wise enough so to pui-ge their old laws as to eradi- 
cate any des])otic and revolutionary principle— until tliey shall have learned 
to venerate the Declaration of Indei)endence— I do nottouch on the Question 
of negro suffrage. If in the Union, the states have long- ago regulated that, 
and for tlie Central Government to interfere »%ithit would be mischiev- 
ous impertinence. If they are to be admitted as new states, they must 
form their own Constitution, and no enabling act could dictate its terms. 
Congress could pi-escriiie the qnaliiications of voters wliile a tenitory, or 
wdien proceeding- to call a convention to form a State Government. That- 
is the extent of the power of ('ongress over the elective fi-anehise, whetlier 
in a territorial or state condition. The President has not even this or any 
other power to meddle in the suliji'Ct, except by advice to Congress— and 
they on territories. Congress, to be suie, has some sort of compulsory 
])ower by reiusing the states admission until the.y shall havecomplied with 
its wishes over this subject. Whether thosn who have fought our battles 
should be allowed to vote, or only those of a paler hue, I leave to be dis- 
cussed in the future, when Congress can take legitim;i,te cognizance of it. 

Tliere ai-e about 6,000.000 of freemen In the South. The number of acres 
of land is 4H5.000,000. Of tliis those who own at)ove 200 acres each, number 
about 70,000 persons, holding in the Jiggregate (together with the states) 
about H91,000,000 acres, leaviuu' for all the others below 200 each, about 71, 
000.000 of acres. By thus forfeiting the estates of the leading Rebels, the 
• ioverument would have 394,000,000 acres, besides their town property-, and 
yet nine-tenths of the people would remain untouched. Divide this land 
into convenient farms. Give, if yrm please, 40 acres to each adult male 
freeman. Suppose there are 1,000,000 of them. Tha.t would require 40, 000,- 
()!iO of acres, which, deducted frcjm 304,000,000 leaves 854,000.000 of acres for 
sale. Divide it into suitable farms and sell it to the highest bidders. I 
think it, including town ])roperty, would average at least flO per acre. 
'I'hat would produce $o, 540, 000, 000. 

Let that be applied cis follows to-wit: 

1. Invest ,f300, 000,000 in six per cent Government bonds, and add the 
interest semi-annually to the pensions of those wlio have become entitled 
by this villanous war. 

2 Appropriate $200,000,000 to pay the damage done to loj'al men, 
North and South by the Rebellion, 

3. Pay the residue, being .'i?o,040,000,000 toward the payment of the Na- 
tiiUial debt. 

THE NATION AE DEBT. 

Our war debt is estimated at from three to four billions of dollars. In 
my judgment, when all is funded and the pensions capitalized it will rcai.-Ii 
more than four billions. 



—15- 

The intorest at six ptM- c^iit onl3- ( now much inove( - .5240,00f),0nv0, 

The (irdiurirj expenses t,i' our soverumetit are - - - li'0, 000,000. 
For pome .^ ears, tJie exti .-Uiniinary exjjense of our 

army and navy will he - . "^ - ' . . . - . 110,000,00(1 

Total - - - -ir 470,000,000. 

l-'our hundred and seven1\- mrilittns to be raised by taxation— our 
j)reseiit iieavy taxes wiil not, in ordin.iry years, produce but httle more 
than half the sum. Can our people b-ar' double their i)res«nt taxation? 

lie who unnecessarily causes it will beaccursed from .^eneiation to j;en- 
eration. It is laslii(jnabie to l>elitlle our public del)t, lest the jjeojile shouM 
become alarmed and political jjarties should sui'Tcr 1 have never l\)und it 
wise to decieve tiie peojjl-. Tiiey c.-oi always be trusted with the truth. 
Capitalists will not be elfected, for they cannot be deceived. (Ujufide in 
the people, and you will avoid repudiation. Deceive tliem, and lead tiiem 
into false ineasures, and you may produce it. 

We i)ity tile i)0(_)r En.ulisiiman whose national debt and burdesonie 
taxation we have he.ird deidored from our childhood. The del)t of (ireat 
Uritian is just about as much as ours, four billions— but in effect it is l)Ut 
half as !arj;e — it bears but three per cent interest The current year, the 
Chancellor of the Exciiec(iuer tells us, the intei-est w;is .1? 13 1, 806, DIM). Ours, 
when all shall be funded, will be nearly double. 

Tlie phtTi ^^e have proposed would pay at least three-fourths of our 
debt. T!ie balance could be manaj^ed with our present taxation. 

WHO H.VS KILLED SLAVERY? 

While I hear it said everyAvhere that slavery is dead, I cannot iearn 
who killed it. No thoug-htful man has pretended that i^incoln's proclama- 
tion, so noble in sentiment, liberated a single slave. It expressly excluded 
from its operation all those witlun our lines. No slaves within any pai-t 
of the Rebel states in our possessions, or in Tennessee, but only t'aoso be- 
vond our limits and bey (jnd our power v.'ere declared free. So (3eneral Smith 
con(iuered Canada by a proclamation! The President did not pi-etend to 
abrog-ate the slave lav^ s of any of thestates. "Restoration," therefore, will 
leave the 'Tniou as it w^as" — a hideous idea. 1 am aware that a very aole 
and patriotic gentleman, and learned historian, Mr. Bancroft, has attemp- 
ted to i)l;vce their freedom on differiuit grounds. He says, what is undoubt- 
edly true, tliat the proclamation of freedom did not free a slave. But he 
liberates th<UB on feudal ])rinciples. Urider the feudal system, when a king; 
concpiereil his enemy, he parceled out his lands and comiuered sub.jects 
among his chief retainers; the lands and surfs were held on condition of 
fealty and renderingmiiitary service when required. If thesubordinatechief 
rebelled, he broke the condition upon which lie held them, and thelands and 
surfs l)ec;ime forfeited to the lord paramount. But it did not free the surfs. 
They, with th.e manors, were bestowed ou other favorites. But the anal- 
ogy fails in another imi)ortant respect. Tlie American slave-holder does 
not hold, by virtue (A any grant fi'om any lord paramount — least of all by 
a grant from tlie General Uovernnient. Slavery exists by no law (jf the 
I'liion, but simply by local laws, by the laws of the states. Rebellion 
against the Nati^juai authority is a breach of no condition of their tenure, 
it were more analogous to say that rebellion against a state under whose 
la ws thi'y held, might work a foifeitnie. But rebellion against neither 
Government would peij sk have any such affect. On whom would the lord 
paramount again bestow the slaves? The theory is plausible, but has no 
scjlid foundation. 

'TiESTORATION" THE SEED OF K!:i;i:LLiOX. 

The President says to the Rebel States, ''Btfore you can ])articipate 
in the Government you must abolish slavery and rt^fcrm your election 



—16— 

laws." THAT is the command of a conqueror, that is Reconstruction, 
not Restoration— Recoustniction, too. by assuming the powers of Congress. 
This theory will lead to melaneh(jly results. Nor can the Constitutional 
Amendment aboliijhiiig slavery ever he ratified by three-fourths of the 
States, if they are States to be counted. Bogus Conventions of those 
States may vote for it. But no Con\ention honestly and fairly elected 
will ever do it. The frauds will not jsermanentjy avail. The cause of 
Lilierty must rest on a firmer l)Msis. Counteifeit governments, like the 
Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, .Mississippi and Arkansas pretenses, will 
l»e disregarded by the sober sense of tiie people, by fiunre la,w, and by the 
(Nnirts. "Restoration" is replanting the Seeds id Rebellion, which within 
the next quai'ter of a centnrj- will germinate and produce the same bloody 
strife which has just ended. 

THE SOUTH SHOULD BE A REPUBLIC OF TOIL. 

If the South is ever to be made a safe Republic, let her lands be culti- 
vated by the toil of the owners, or the free labor of iutelligentcitizons. This 
must be done even though it drive her nobility into exile. If they go, all 
the better. It will be hard to jjcrsuade the owner of ten thousand acre.g 
(if land, who di'ives a coach and four, that he is not degraded by sitting 
at the yan)e table, or in the same pew, with the embrowned and hard- 
handed farmer who has himself cultivated his own thriving homestead of 
1.70 acres. This subdivision of the lands will yield ten bales of cotton t(i 
one that is made now, and he who produces it will own it and peel 

HI.MSEEF A M.\X. 

It is far easier and more benefieial to exile 70,000 proud, bloated and 
defiant Rebels, than to expatriate 4, 0;)0.000 of laborers, native to the soil 
and lo3'al to the Government. This latter seheme was a favorite plan with 
certain men, with which they had fcjr awhile inoculated tmr late sainted 
President. But a single experiment made him discard it and its advisers. 
Since I have alluded to certain men, I may say a word more of these 
jjersistent apologists of the South. For, when the virus of slavery ha.g 
once eatere<i the veins of the Slaveholder, no subsequent effort seems cap- 
able of v.- holly eradicatiny it. Tiiey are men of considerable po^er, some 
merit, of admirable audacity and execrable selfishness. With impetuous 
;dacrity they seize the Whife House, and hold possession of it, as ia the 
bite administi'atiou, until shiken oil by the overpowering force of public 
iudig stlon. Their pernicious counsel had well nigli defeated the re-election 
<)• Abraham Lincoln; and if it should prevail with the pre.sent Administra- 
tion, pure and patriotic as Presi<lent Johr.son is admitttd to be, it will 
render him the most unpopular Executivqt— save one — that ever occupied 
the Presidential chair. But there is no fear of that. He will soon say, as 
Mr. Lincoln did : "your time Has Come !" 

ALL DEPENDS ON CONGRESS. 

Is this great conquest to l)e in vain? That will depend u[)onthe virtue 
and inteiligeuce of the next Congress. To Congress aif)ne belongs the 
]>i)wer of Reconstruction— of giving law to the vanquislied. This is ex- 
piessly decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dorr case. 
I th Hou-ard 42. The C\)tirt say ; '"Uniler this article of the Constitution 
(the 4th) it rests with Congress to decid>^ what government i-i tiieestablish- 
ed one in a State, for tlie United States guarantee's to each a repu!)lican 
form of government," etc. But vv^e know liow difficult it is for a majority 
of (Congress to overcome preconceived opinions. Besides, before Congre.sa 
meets, things will bo so inaugurated— precipitateil — it will be still more 
difficult to correct. If a majority of Congress can be found wise and firm 
enough to declare the Confederate States a conquered enemy, Reconstruc- 
tion will be easy and legitimate; and the friends of freedom will Icmx rule 
in the Councils of the Nation. If Re&toration prevails, the prosjsect i.-^ 



—17— 

gloomy, and "new lords will make new laws." The Union party will be 
overwiielmed. The Copperiiead parly lias become extinct with Secession. 
But with Secession it will revive. I'nder "Kestfjration" every Rebel State 
will send Rebels to Conj;'ress, and tliey, with their allies in the North, will 
control Cont^ress, and will occupy tlie White House. Tlien restoration of 
laws and ancient Constitutions will be sure to follow, our public debt will 
be rei)udi;ited. or the Rebel national det)t will be added to ours, and the 
people be crushed beneath heavy burdens. 

REBELS TO PAY THE DEBT. 

Let us forj?et all parties, and build on the broad platfotm of "recon- 
ptructinp:" the (Jovernment out of tlie conquered territory converted into 
new and free States, and admitted into the Union b^' the Sovereij^'u ])Ower 
of Congress, witli another planl< — "Tlie I'roperty of the Rebels Shall Pay 
Our National Debt, and ixdemxiky FREi:nMG.\ and i^oyal sufferers— and 
that under no circumstances will we suffer the National Debt to be repudi- 
ated, or the interest scaled below the contract rates; nor permit any part 
of the Rebel debt to be assumed by tlie nation." 

YOUNG MEN MUST DO THE WORK. 

Let all who approve of these principles rally with us. Let all others 
pro with the Copperheads and Rebels. Those will be tlio opposing parties. 
Young men, tills duty devolves on jou. Would to God, ii only for that, 
that I were still in the prime of life, that 1 might aid you to light through 
this last, greatest battle of freedom ! " 

Let me ask in all sincerity, Does not the history of the 3'ears since the 
war, prove that Mr. Stevens was not wrong in his fears and predictions? 
AVas lie not pretty well acquainted with the spirit and intentions of the 
Southeiu Jeiiders? Surely we mtist in cindor answer in the affirmative; 
and we can safely base such an answer upon the utterances and actions of 
the white people of the South. I fear that freedom has again been com- 
pelled to submit to a clipping of her wings, y- 

Extract from S. W. McCall's arti^'le in Alantic Monthly June 1901— 
" Wasliington During Reconstruction." ' 

"Mr. Tliaddeus Stevens had logically- taken the position, from the very 
outbreak of hostilities, that a condition of war existed, within the mean- 
Iul;- of the term in the law of nations; that the Southern States had forfeit- 
ed all tlu'ir rights under the Constitution; and that after they had been 
conquered they should be dealt with practically as conquered territory, 
Avithout any constitutional rights. This was regarded as an extreme 
doctrine; 'nut in spite of the fact that he found, when he first advocated it, 
only tlie siighfSt support, he adhered to it with remarkable consistency, 
and in the end it Vva^ the theory v.^iuch found practical acceptsmce The 
constitutional theory involved in this plan was not less simple than that 
contained in the Crittenden Resoluti(jns, although at the oppositeextreme. 
This was really the important point upon which the so-called radicalism of 
Stevens wns iutluential. It consisted in adopting the very matter-of-fact 
policy of doing what the future continuance of the national life, which had 
been saved by so ma.-iy sacrifices, demanded, and tre;iting reconstruction 
as a. practical rather than a theoietieal question. It obviously did not 
involve negro suffrage. That might or might not be oi:e of the "terms" 
which should Ise imposed. Stevens did not originate the idea of imposing 
negro suffriige as a necessarj" part of reconstruction, and the ojjinion en- 
tertained in some quarters that he was especially rcs(H)iisible for the intro- 
duction of the idea is widely at variance Avith the facts. His first plan 
was embodied in fin amendment to the Constitution, b;ising representation 
upon the number of voters in the different States, and thus making it for 



—18— ' 

the political interest of the states to establish a broaol suffrage in order to 
increase tlieir representation in Congress; and so late as the 30th of April 
18lj6. he reported to the House the Fourtlieentli Amendment in the form 
in which it now stands in the Constitution, and at the same time a bill 
declaring that when that amendment should liave been incoi-porated in 
the Constitution, and any state "lately in insurrection" shouhl have rati- 
fied it and adopted a constitution and laws in accordance v.'ith its terms, 
it sliouhl be admitted to representation in Congress. That policy lacked 
neither simplicit3' nor moderation. In the Decenil;er preceding, Sumner 
had presented to the Senate a resolution demanding "the complete en- 
franchisement of all citizens, so that there sliall l)e no denial of rights on 
account of race or color." Lincoln had suggested the suffrage for the 
freedmen, but on the condition that it should be conferred gra<luaily and 
as they should become fitted f<jr it, — a condition full of wise policy for tlie 
country at large, and of humainty for the negro, liut wlif)ever m;iy ha.ve 
been its advocates, negro suffra;;e resulted from the course of events rath;r 
than from tlie efforts of any Individuals. 

Lincoln, just l)efore his death, had prepared a new plan of recon.struc- 
tion, and there can be little doubt that he would soon have pronulgated 
it if his life had b »en spared. Oa his accession to the presidency' Johnson 
accepted Lincoln's cabinet in its entirety, and he also tinally accei)ted the 
latter's plan of reconstiuction, although his first utterances had alarmed 
even the radicals l)y the In^stility of his tone toward the South. Tiiisplan, 
which may fairly be called I^incoln's second idan, was moi'e severe than 
that embodied in the Louisiana proclamation, but it repeated the fatal 
error of ti eating reconstruction as a function of the Executive. If Lincoln 
liad lived, his great political influence might have l)een sufhcient to secure 
the adoption of this programme by Congress; but whether Congress hail 
accepted it or not, ho would doubtless ha,ve had sufficient sagacit.y not to 
beconie involved in the bitter controversy to which Johnson I)ecamea 
party. After the latter, how'ever, lia 1 accepted t!ie pian which he received, 
already ]irei)ai-('d, ar tlie h.-inds of Lincoln's cabinet, he adhered to it un- 
compromisingly and with very little discretion " 

"A potent force In overturning tliis plan was found iu the result of its 
own workings. It had an opj)ortunity to be tested. It was promulgateil 
during a long recess of Congress, and its operation v.'as entered upon fi-ee 
from legislative intprference. Before ('ongress liad reassembled it had been 
put in foi-ce in nearly all the Sontliern States. Tiiey had chosen legislatures, 
had elected Ivej)resentatives and .Senators in C(->ngre.ss, pas.sed local laws, 
and set up the machinery of government under thei)rotection of thena tion- 
al military foj-ces. Congress was called upon to deal not simply witti a 
proposition for a policy, but with a scheme, alreadj'putiaexecution, v.'hich 
was working-somewhat badly. The firstattempts at legislation on the i)art 
of the new a•overnment^^ were ill advised, to say the least, and Vv^ere directed 
to the great question upon which the conscience of theNcn'th was thoroughly 
aroused, — the presei-v^tion of the fi'eedom of tlie ne^ii'O. The counter rev- 
olution, also, seemed to be inoviuft- somewhat too rapidlj' for the Noi'th- 
ern people. Its motion may be well illustrated by a single circumstance, 
b.v no means exceptional in ch.'iracter. When the Session of Congi-ess 
ended on the 3d of March lS6o, military operations were being conducted 
on a broad scale, and .Mr. .\lexander tl. Stephens was Vice-President of the 
Southern Confederacy. When Congress came together at its nest Session, 
the credentials of Stephens vrere presented as Senator elect from (Jeorgia; 
and as if this were not sufficiently startling, there were urged on his behalf 
constituiional reasons why he should l)e permitted to take the oath of 
office. Steidieiis might have made a very acceptable Senator, but tlie men 
composing the Kepuhlican majority in Congi-ess v.'ould 'nave been sonse- 
thing less, or more, than human, if, at that time, v,'hi!e the tire of battle 
v.-a.s still hot, they could have regarded this spectacle with entire com- 
placency." 



—19— 

"The decisive influence, however, which brought about the destruc- 
tion of tho President's plan grew out of tiie anti-neti"ro hiws whicli were 
passed by nearly all of the leg-islatu: es chosen in pui-suance of it. A bare 
survey of those laws will convince one of their utter lack of policy as well 
as of their gross injustice, and they lind no palliation in the poor excuse 
that has been n)ade for them; that laws with somewhat similar feature)^, 
relating' to apprentices and tramps, may be found upon the Statue books 
of some of rlic Nortiiern States. There is at the outset the material p;)int 
of difference that tiie 'tramp' and 'apprentice' laws referred to applied 
impartially to all races. The few Northern statutes, too, were scattered 
over a great many years; tliey were proportionately !«iss severe in charac- 
ter, and some of them followed reconstruction in point of time. But if 
they were similar in piiuciple and iiad preceded leconstruction, still it 
would surely have been a strange exhibition of p<jlilical wisdom on the 
part of the Southern legislatures t(j extract these scattered precedents and 
L-ondense the ap'plication of them in their very hrst legislative acts, when 
the North was anxiously observing how the freedom which had been so 
expensively purcluised should be regarded by the Southern people. Some 
of tliose laws established a condition not greatly different from the fornit-r 
slavery, and in some res[)ects it differed for the wor.se." 

I desire to say here, that Mr. Lincoln's suggestion of gradual enfran- 
chii-ement of the negi-oes, mentioned in Mr. AicCall's firticle as quoted 
above, is a good argument in favor of Mr. Stevens' suggestion or i)lan of 
delay; that is, of his i)lan to hold the S(juth as conquered territory and to 
be governed by the coutpieror until the masses of the people could be 
educated up to the point of al/iiity to govt-rn themselves as states in tLe 
Union. We can believe now, that that should have been done, unless our 
eyes ^re bedimmed by lingering sympathy for the lords of the South. 

I give here a feAV extracts from Mr. Callendc r's "Thaddeus Stevens, 
Commoner." 

"Mr. Stevens rec<ignized that liberty had a traitor in the White House, 
and tiiat the battle for freedom was only half won At the very opening 
of the next Session of Congress, Dec 4, iSG5, he threw down the gauntlet 
to the President by making his motion for a Special committee on recon- 
struction. Many thought it unwise; but then it was 'Old Thad' that did 
it, and they kept their feelings to themselves. If Mr. Stevens knew how 
to conduct the war so as to destroy the South, he knew well how to re- 
construct that country. To him, more than to any other man, we ov.-e 
the safeguards which now protect tlie black and prevent the slaveholder 
from evading the results of the war. Stevens realized thatT there must be 
no reaction; that every door must be closed aud locked, and that the 
future would depend wholly on the thoroughness with which the work 
was done then. He knew the mistake of our ancestors when, having be- 
headed Charles, in a few years they allowed the hated race to sit upon the 
throne. No such experiment as that was to be made. If we could not 
have indemnity for the past, we must have security for the future. If the 
rebellions States were to come back into the Union, they must come with 
solemn guarantees. And to this — all for others, and not for himself — he 
gave his dying years. 

"The first thing to do was to i)revent the new chief magistrate from 
undoing the work of the war; and to guard against this, it was necessary 
for Congress to reconstruct the South rather than trust that work to the 
tender mercies of the Border State President Mr Stevens, under a suspen- 
sion of the rules, on tiie first d;iy of the first session of the Thhty-ninth 
Congress, introduced his now famous reconstruction resoltition. It ran 
as follows : — 

'Resolved, That a joint committee of fifteen members sliall be ai)i)oint- 
ed, nine of whom shall be members of the House, iiud six meml)ers of the 
Senate, who shall inquire into tiie condition of the States which formed 
the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they or 



—20— 

an^ of them are entitled to be represented in either House of Congress, 
with leave to report at any time l)y bill or otherwise; and until such re- 
port have been made and finally fn-ted upon by Cont?ress, no member shall 
be received into either House from any of the said so called Confederate 
ytates; and all papers relative to the representation of said sta:^es shall l)e 
referred to said committee without debate.' Of that committee Mr. 
Stevens was chairman." 

Nothing could be more iron-clad than that. None but Stevens could 
have drafted such a paper, none but he could have offered it to the House. 
But there was work to do, and the President must be checked at once. 
The President's love for amnesty was not fully appreciated by the Repub- 
licans. On Dec. IS, Stevens had all parts of the Presiuent's Message relat- 
ingtothe subject of reconstruction referred to the jointcommlttee on recon- 
struction. On this occasion he made a ver^' solid and brilliant speech on 
the subject, and outlined strongly his views as to the way in which clie 
Southern states should come back into the Union; and wiser than many of 
Ills associates, he saw the necessity of negro suffrage, as well as its '"jus- 
tice." 

I give here extracts from the speech made on this occasion. It is most 
excellent reading for those who have a desire to understand the conditions 
bearing upon the great question of reconstruction. 

EXTRACT FRO.M SPEECH OF DEC. IS, LS65. 

"Our fathers repudiated the whole doctrine of the legal superiority of 
families or races, and proclaimed the equality of all men before the law. 
Upon that they created a revolution and gave birth to a Republic. They 
wei'e prevented by .slavery from perfecting the superstructure whose foun- 
dati(-)n they had thus bravely laid. For the sake of the union they consent- 
ed to v»-ait, l)ut never relinquished the idea of its final completion. The 
time to which they looked forward nas come. It is our duty to complete 
their work. If this Rei)ublic is not now made to stand on their great 
princii)les, it has uo liouest foundation, and the Father of all men will 
shake it to the center. If we have not yet been sufieiently scourgeil for our 
national sin, to tea.ch us to do justice to all God's creatures, without dis- 
tinction ol race or color, we must expect the still more heavy vengeance of 
an offended Father, still increasing his iufiictions as he increased tlie sever- 
ity of the plague- in Egypt until 'he tyrant repented of his reluctant con- 
se'nt, and attempted to enslave the people, as our Southern tyrants are at- 
temiiting to do tiow, he lilled the Red Sea witli l)roken chariots and drown- 
ed horses, and strewed the shore with dead carcasses. 

"This is not a 'wiiite man'sgovernment' in t!ie exclusive sense in which 
it is used. Tu say so, is political l)lasphemy, for it violates the fundamen- 
tal pi'inciples of our gospel o? libert\\ This is man's government; tlie g(jv- 
ernment of all men alii^e; not that all men v.ill have equal power and 
sway within it. Accidental circumstances, natural and acquired endow- 
ment and ai)ility, will vary tlieir fortunes. But equal right to all tlie privi- 
leges of the government is innate in every immortal being, no matter vvhat 
the shape or color of the tabernacle which it inhal)its. 

'Tf equal privileges were u'r.-inted to all, I should not expect any but 
white men to lie elected to ollico for long ages to come. The prejudice en- 
g-endered by slavery would not soon permit merit to l)e preferred to color. 
But it would still be beneficial to tiie weaker races. In a country where 
})oli{ical divisions will ;<lways exist, their power, joined with just white 
men. would greatly modify, if it di<l not entii'ely prevent, the injustice of 
majorities. Without the right of siif!']-age in the late slave states, ( I do not 
speak of the free states) i ijelieve tlie slaves had far better been left in liond- 
age. I see it stated that very distfnguished advocates of tlie right of suff- 
rage lately declared in this city that they do not expect to obtain it hy 
congressional legi.slation, but only by administrative action, because, as 
one gallant gentleman said, the states had not been out of the Union. 



—21— 

Then they will never .L;-et lii. Tiiy Pivsltknt is fiir sounaor than they. He 
!>ees tliat administrative acrioa lias iioiliin;;- to thj with it. If it wiv is to 
come, it must Ije coustitutioiiai ■immeudiueuts or cjng'ressional action iu 
the ten itories. and in eaablinu- acts. 

How sham'-ful that men oi iiitliience shouhl mislead and niiseducate 
the pnhlic mind! Tiiey pi-ocialii!. ''i'liis is tlie white man'.s ^■ovei'innent', 
and tiie whole coil of copper- hea Is rcho tlie same sentiment, and upstart, 
jealous liepuhlicans join the cry. is ic auy wonder i;4-ii()rant forei;;-ners and 
illiterate natives shouhl learn this d-;)ctriue, and be led to despise and mal- 
treat a whole race of their ffllow ii;.-u? 

Sir, this doctrine of a white man's governinenr is as atrocious as tlie 
infamous sentimtuit that damned the late Chief Justice to eveiiastaiij- fame; 
and, L fear, to everlasting iire." 

Mr. Stevens always had faith in the possibilities of the colored race. All 
that the race lacked iu oriier to n)ake maiufest to the w(n-ld that they 
p jssesse 1 caijabilicies of no mean order, was t:ie opp.jrtunicy. Quite recent 
years have siiown, that W'th i)artial <.pporLn:iity they have made rapid 
advancement in education, civilizatiou and Cliri.-tianization, both by book 
learning- aiid practical industrial experience. The race have improved mor- 
ally a'so. very greatly \Vi; h the "Xceptiou of a few lawless on-'s, — wlni 
are to be expected in any race, — who do the !).h1 deeds that engender 
strife and lawlessness, they are well disposed; and the whites, with some 
exceptions, are kindly disijoscd toward tiiem. Tne principal obstacle or 
stumblingblock, is social eciuality. P>nt neither tlte bl icU.s nor the whites 
desire this; nor do the blacks ask for it, or expect it. Tiie scliools already 
establish'd have done much to create a desire among the blacks to become 
educated iu the practical daily occupations of all industrituis and well 
meaning people, and they are learning to do all the finer as well as the 
coarser labors of civilized people. A few years more of this increasing ra- 
tio of progress will doubtless astonish those «jf ns, who tnav be stdl living, 
and who were living when reconstruction was first put into operation. No 
tloubc we shall be vehy okeatia' astonished, for the leaven is at work 
actively, which is not slow iu leaveniug the whole lump. 

Thus we can see without much aiflicult.t , that Reconstruction, even 
with its hobbles on, has done, is doing and will do a great work for the 
New South, and especially for the colored race. 

It may well be said, that, if reconstruction has not accomplished all 
that was expected of it by its friends, it cannot be wondered at: for it was 
crippled b.-fore it was started out to work, by milk-and-water philanthro- 
pists; later, it was maime«l and c!-ipi)led by I^resident Hayes' withdrawal 
of all the trt)ops from the .South, and by the letting loose of the IvU Klux 
Kjans and the blood-hounds; then again it was crippled by State legisla- 
tion; tissue ballots; disfranchisement for imagin.iry crimes; by intimida- 
tion; by driving the colored men away h'oni the polls; and in man^- other 
ways, and last, and prol)ably the most daring, bj' changing the State 
Constitutions, in violation of the Amendment <jf the Constitution of the 
United States. In fact by lawless proceedings almost without number. 
This is a strong statement, but it is a true one. 

The condition in the South called "race war," must l)e settled, we be- 
lieve, by an Ail-wise Providence, through education, civilizution and 
Chriftianity. It seems to be too great a problem for human Uen. It has 
been, is now, and will l)e for along time yet, a troublesome (luestion. 
Much is to be hoped for from the Hampton and Tnskegee schools and oth- 
ers which will follow them. Mucu has already been done b^' them for the 
South 

If the more impetuous, nf)n-laboring niwn of the pivsent generation of 
Avhites in the South, and others holding an unjust prejudice, or hatred, to- 
ward the blacks, simply because they are blacks, could be changed from 



—22— 

their unwise dislike of the Meft-roes, which was eiiffendererl by the lustitn- 
tion of Slavery, and which ouglit no Ioniser to be held against this; unfor- 
tunate race, since slavery no lonuer exists, then, time and fair-play conld 
soon hrins: about harinuiv and t;"an{nility. But so lono,- as this unjtist 
prejudice exists and is allowed to domineer over the nf^g-mes, and deny to 
Them their riuhts a^ free people, then true libi'rty cannot have sway in the 
Sout'i, and nf'ither the North nor the *^onth can feel rij^-ht. Tl-.e South can- 
not feel guiltless bef(U-e (lOd, and the Norrh will feel Hncon!forta,ble because 
such a condition of things exists in the South The iieopie of the South 
should, before God, try to do away with their prfjndice toward this op- 
pressed race. 

If some of the ."^onthern writers of fiction are to handle the subjects oi 
reconstruction and "race war," without beiny corrected by men of g'l'eat- 
er a.L!;e ami calmer jndft-ment, then God pity the jieople in their ignorance, 
or in their mistaken kiiowledgv (if history. It is absolutely and grievous- 
ly wrong to misrepresent the cb-cunistaiices pertaining to the South at the 
time of t'ie close of the war and t h^ early a ears of reconstruction. The 
author of '''I'he Leopard's Spots," has recently givi-n exi:)ression to some 
very wild views He a'-snmes that the whites — iacluding those who had 
lately been in the war — were entirely peaceful, submissive and meek, during 
theeaily years of reconstruction, and that all dhsensions, and fill troubles 
of every kind, were engendered and fostered by tlie blacks, scalawags and 
carpet-baggers. Now. did not many of tliese same whites tight hard for 
four long years in trying to destroy the Government? Surely they did not 
fight for fun. Do tlu y not still say that they wt>re not conquered, but only 
overpowered? Do they not still say that they do not teach their children 
that the rebidliou was wrong? Do they not have liistories in their schools 
written by Southerners v.-ho show their bias in favor of the Rebellion, Seces- 
sion and State Right.s? Do rhey not still have organized societies to per- 
petuate the tnemories and faitldul self s crifices of the war? Do they not 
."^till revere the "S*^ars and Bars?" Are they not jiroud, and disposed ti> 
dictate and to rule? Are the young men not almost nncamabie, or at least, 
unsubmissive? Let them take their share of the blame lii>e brave men. 
The wrong was not all on one side. The spirit of revenge was unchained 
for a time. 

An author who can indulge in such fancies as th.e follo^-ing, and can 
give tbeni to the rea^ling public as truth, or as facts, is hardly to be relied 
upon. Speaking of things of 18(i7, page 100, he says: — 

"The wildest passions held riot at Washlng'ton. The Congress of the 
United States as a deliberative body under constitutional forms ofgovern- 
]iient no lunger existed. The Speaker of the House shook his fist at the 
President and threatened openly' to hang him. and he was arraigned for 
impeachnu'ut for daring to exercise the constitniional functions of his 
office I" Oh I Oh I! How can we expf^ct the whites t)f the South to be 
what they ought to be — faii--minded, loyal, pa.triotic, truthful jjeople — 
when they are taugiit in such a i-eckless m;inner as this? Ic is really too 
Isad, tlnit the country should still be disturbt-d by si^ch folly. The author 
5 < no lawyer, or he would know tliat law had to have a part in the ss'tth;- 
nient. On page Do h.* uses this language, viz. : "The voices of three men 
now fill the world with their bluster — Charles Sumner, a cra-ck-braiued 
theorist; Thaddens .Steve i--!, a cbib-fo(jted misanthrope, and B. F. Butler, 
a triumvirate of physical and mental deformity. Yet they are but the 
cracked reeds of a great organ that peals forth the discord oi a nation's 
b'ind r.ige. When the storm is past, and reason rules passion, they will 
be flung into oblivion. \W must bend to the Storm. It is God's will." 

This sounds wed. but O, how mistaken this man is! Oblivion is too 
diminutive in dimensions to hold ONE of the three, let alone ali^. I am 
afrai'l that this author will never be able to see the matter in its true 



0;3 

light. He is terribly out of the way in his reckonin.G:. If he do not change 
tack, his canoe will run him int» Charybdis, or up against Scylla. 

Tiiere seems to l)e no possil)le ese;!i)e from the conclusion* that history 
has bei.'n teaehiiig for centuries, that i>roperly restraiueil freedom.— sucii as 
Ave have in the United States of America— is the normal condition lliat 
belongs to any man, woman or child barn into tiie world, If that man or 
w^oman or child possess a sound mind and body. History has also estab- 
lished the proposition that each c'nild is naturally entitled to a fair educa- 
tion. The tendency, most assuredly, is toward the doctrine that every 
chiM born into the world has an inherent right to an education and to ail 
the liberty consistent with the good of a community of intelligent and 
moral people. " i 

The following item appeared iu a Democratic paper of February 12th' 
1903, which argues a very serious condition of affairs in the South, an(l 
suggests to every thinking person, the question : What is to be the end of 
it all? 

"Secretary of War, Elihu Root, in his recent speech before the I'niort 
League Ciub (if New York City, spoke of Negro Suffrage as a tiat failure' 
and declared that his party might as w;ll recognise it now as later, k^ 
believes that within a few years the black man will be eliminated from alt 
public offices in the South. What is the significance of this, coming froni 
one of President iloosevelt's cabinet ?" ' '• 

Every fair-minded person who reticcts upon this troublous questioii;' 
will, at the outset, bear in mind the fact that forty-two years ago, tht^ 
South broke away from her allegiance to tie Union, for the purjjose of 
establishing an independent Government, with human slavery for the 
chief corner stone. And that she brought on, and maintained for four 
long 3'ears, a terrific war for this very purpose. No one can doubt for a 
single moment, that she was desperately in earnest, and that she fully in- 
tended to accomplish her purpose, or utterl3' fail in the prolonged life-or- 
death attempt. It is useKss to bring forward proof of this, for It needs 
no proof. 

We are constrained to ask : Are the fears oT Thaddeus Stevens, ex- 
pressed on his death bed, as related by Col. A. K. McClure in nis book, 
■'Liacola. and Men of War Times," to be realized? Are we going back to 
the conditions of the i)eriod of slavery? Are we all going to forget the 
pangs of the war. and. on the one hand engender new strife, and on the 
other hand, meekly submit to everythiiig that may come up, lest i)erad- 
venture, we may lose a few dollars i'l business? The char.;e of being too 
aggressive rests upon th.e people of the South, and tliat of being too ab- 
jectly submissive, upon those of the North, and both charges are only too 
true for the good of the country and of the human race. 

Our dury as conquerors at the close of the civil war, was not so much 
to .see that mercy and forgiveness were extended to the van(iuished. as to 
see tii;!t the interests and rijzhts of i)osterity were made secure, and the 
principles of true liberty justly and safely established; for posterity and 
enlightened freedom had much irreater claims upon us than the coniiuered 
"Confederates," who forfeited their <"onstitutional rights by tiieir late 
belligerent actions. While the laws of humanity reciuired ns to be as 
merciful as vas consistent with safety and justice, the laws of war and 
the law of nations required us to look be3'ou(l the interests of these alone, 
to those of all future generations. 

A \er>' important point, which is quite generally overlooked, both in 
th.e S')urn ;iad tlie North, and which i.\ .iusticio cannot be overlooked in a 
candid consideration of this questiou. is. whether or not tiie .Negro r.ue is 
a part of t he human faunly. This point \vas linally and permanently de- 
termi- ■ i n the affirmative, by the Amendments to theConstitution adopt- 
ed after riio war. Another important point is, if we cuusider tlie (juestion 



—24— 

from a humane standpoint, or in the light of justice, that this jireatl.v 
Avronged race is not among- lis from choice, but from cruel and heartless 
compulsion. Are we still going to compel these wronged people to sub- 
mit to injustice, and rob them of promised protection? Let us think for a 
moment. We claim to be a just people. A great responsibility rests 
somewhere. 

Now, let the people. North and South, who are disposed to be fair, 
truthful and just, give up the mistaken idea that reconstruction was a 
cruel yoke forced upon a martyr people by the l)arbarous hatred, or the 
savagery of a lot of heartless scoundrels in the Congress of the United 
States of America, simply because they had the p-)wer at the time to thus 
persecute and torture them. How can any reasonable, or fair-minded 
man believe such a charge? How could any one have believed it in the 
past? Reconstruction was the result of deliberate, long-continued con- 
sideration on the part of raanj^ just, able, honorable and huuianity-loving 
men,— g'iants in both mind and heart. It was established, not for a day, 
but for all time. Not for the present generation alone, but for all poster- 
ity as well; and it has already accomplished a great work, and the 
possibiliti^^s which yet lie before it are unimaginable; for it works through 
brotherly love and the fear of (iod, in all the channels of home, school, 
church, and the forum, in all the different fields of eductition, civilization 
and Christianization. God has fostered and cherished it in the past, and 
M-e sincerely l)elieve that he will continue to do so in the future, until, 
somewhere* down the long vista of time, it shall have finished its great 
work for the various races of mankind, and for God. 



I 2 



1903 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 789 930 9^ 



